Team CFVY Shortstories
by Coco Adel -CFVY
Summary: Chapter 1: The beginnings of Team CFVY. Complete with Grimm-slaughter and balls-kicking Action. Chapter 2: The Mission that went so bad during Volume 2.
1. The Initiation

**AN:** I've renamed this Story - and also this chapter for that matter - after I wrote the second chapter, simply because that one didn't refer to the beginnings of Team CFVY anymore.

* * *

She was falling.

Fast.

The ground was rushing up to meet her.

Soon she would land.

She had heard that often people wondered how they got into such a situation, but she did not.

She knew exactly how she'd gotten here.

She also had no fear.

No, she was Coco Adel.

She may be from one of the richest families in the country, but she couldn't afford to be afraid.

No, she had known of this beforehand, before she had deliberately stepped unto the grey plate, that would fling her into the distance. It all belonged to the plan. To her plan to become a huntress. To her teachers plans to make her a huntress. Once she was on the ground, she would have to find her way towards a temple near the northern end of the forest and retrieve a relic.

Somewhere on the way she was supposed to get a partner. Of course, she hadn't been the only person to be shot into the forest and the first other human being – or faunus for that matter – she made eye-contact with would be her partner, according to the rules.

" _Do my sunglasses count against eye-contact?"_ She had to wonder.

Though right now she had more pressing matters to attend to. For example the ground, which had come considerably closer.

" _Time for my landing."_

With a flick of her wrist, she unfolded her minigun, planted her feet on top of it and pulled the trigger to slow her descent and also to create a clearing for her to land on, instead of crashing into trees.

A few feet from touchdown, she pulled up the muzzle and prepared for the impact.

She crashed down hard, sliding at least twenty feet across the clearing, tearing up the ground, but she managed to keep her balance on top of her weapon.

Stepping down from her gun, she dusted herself off and folded her weapon back into its less clumsy form, a black handbag, with golden studs and an ammo-belt as shoulder strap.

Thus, she started her way through the forest.

…

Some time later, she stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear voices. No, not voices. Laughter. And crying. She hurried into their direction and burst onto a clearing.

There were five people already here. One of them was a faunus and she was surrounded by the other four. She also was the one crying.

"What the hell is going here?" Coco yelled. She glared at the four of them from behind her aviators, pausing only to look at the faunus girl. She even lifted her sunglasses for a second, giving a small nod, to signify she had now officially partnered up to her.

"Look who it is, the fashion queen." The biggest one, apparently their self-proclaimed leader, mocked. "Yeah, you wanna style us to death?" the guy to his left sniggered.

"No. I want you to leave that girl alone. I can't possibly imagine her doing anything to you." She calmly replied.

"Oh, but she has. She has insulted us by being here, by believing she could be a huntress. She's not even human, she doesn't deserve it. I'll sooner be killed by a Beowolf than to see her become a huntress." The leader snapped back, while the two guys who had kept silent so far, returned to bullying the girl in their middle.

Before Coco could think of a response, another voice could be heard.

"It must be hard to fight without being ab-…What is going on here?"

The voice belonged to a veritable giant of a man, with a giant sword on his back. Next to him was a dark-skinned boy with armblades. He had scars all over his body and appeared to be blind.

"There are six people here, four around a faunus and one off to the left." The giant said to his partner, who nodded his acknowledgement.

"I've asked the same question a few seconds before." Coco told them.

"And my answer is this: It doesn't concern you, any of you. This is between us and the faunus." The leader of the bullies said.

"You expect us to simply leave you alone?" The giant said, while his silent companion moved into an aggressive stance, his blades held ready.

"By the way, I may not be a Beowolf, but I can still fulfil your wish to die, when she becomes a huntress." Coco said and as the leader turned to her, he found himself facing six barrels of death.

"Whoa, c-cool down everyone. Just w-walk a-away and no one will get hurt." He stammered, the confidence washed from his face.

Before anyone could act further though, the very light seemed to leave the clearing, being replaced by a daunting darkness and menacing, red eyes, accompanied by snarls and howls.

"Grimm!" someone yelled, just as one of the beasts jumped forth from between the trees, immediately lunging at the group in the centre. Halfway across it was torn apart by a hail of bullets. Coco continued to sweep her gun across, ripping through the trees and the Grimm among them. She was aware of others fighting around her, a giant blade cutting and slicing the beasts apart, while two smaller ones slashed and stabbed them. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see movement towards the trees, but the creatures kept her preoccupied.

When the last beast had turned to ashes, she looked around the clearing only to find it nearly deserted. The bullies had used to commotion to bail it, apparently dragging the faunus along.

She ran towards the point she had seen movement earlier, calling to the other two as she went: "Hurry up, we can't let them get away!"

The giant and his partner hesitated just a second, then quickly followed her. It didn't take them long to hear yells and cries. They found Coco hiding behind a bush, peering through the leaves.

There, under a big tree, the bullies were, beating up the faunus and pulling her long bunny ears.

With a roar of fury, Coco leapt forward, hitting the nearest guy in the back with her handbag. The rest quickly drew their weapons, only to be confronted with a trio of blades. It was a short and merciless fight.

The dark-skinned boy hit his opponent with a flurry of blows, never giving him the chance to retaliate.

Next to him the giant swung his blade in wide arcs, keeping his foe at a distance. He managed to knock his weapon aside, finishing the guy with a downwards hit.

Coco however was the dirtiest fighter of them all. She kicked the leader in the balls, followed by an uppercut with her handbag, which sent him stumbling. He got another kicked, this time on his ass, and crashed into a tree.

By now the blind boy had finished his adversary with a two-handed punch to the stomach, just as Coco kicked the guy, whom she had hit first, back down.

A sob pulled them back into reality.

She quickly rushed to the girl sobbing and crying beneath the tree. She shied away from Coco's touch, who tried to calm her.

"Shh, calm down. Everything's fine now. They won't hurt you any more."

Humming a soothing tune, she pulled the faunus up and hugged her.

All dams seemed to break down and the girl now openly sobbed into Coco's shoulder. The giant moved over, placing a big hand reassuringly on the crying girl's shoulder, smiling down on her.

His partner simply stood there, a bit off from the group, listening for any signs of monsters.

No one could say how long they had been standing like this, but at some point the tears stopped flowing. Coco held her at arms length, looking at her over the rim of her glasses, concern clearly visible in her eyes.

"You okay?" she asked and received a small nod and a mumbled "Thank you" as response.

"We should call Ozpin." Coco said.

"No! I – I mean, we will be kicked out of Beacon for this, won't we?" the girl asked, obviously afraid of the repercussions of the unsanctioned fight.

"No. She's right. We have to tell him." The giant intervened, "If we don't, these guys will. I don't think we would like their version of the story." His partner nodded.

"That's settled then." Coco concluded and pulled out her scroll. She quickly found the contact she was looking for.

"Professor Ozpin? This is Coco Adel. I wanted to tell you-"

"Of how you beat up a group of fellow students. I have not lied, when I told you all would be monitored."

"Oh...um...right. Sorry for calling."

"Don't be. It was the right thing to do. We will discuss this incident later. For now, please continue with your initiation." And thus he ended the call.

"Well...he wouldn't let us continue if he wanted to kick us out, I guess." Coco tried to sound confident, but had doubts nagging at her mind herself. Maybe it was a trick. What if he wanted them to defy his orders and thus prove yet more unruly or instead leave behind helpless students and not show the honour required of true huntsmen and huntresses. For a few moments they stood on silence.

"Why did you help me?" The faunus asked suddenly, "You're an Adel. Why would you of all people help a faunus?"

"Just because I am an Adel, that doesn't mean I share my father's view of the world." Coco explained, "He may want to oppress your kind, but I don't and will not start to do so. That's part of why I want to be a huntress."

The faunus pondered this a while and then nodded as a sign she understood.

"Um...may...may I take a photo of you all?" She blurted out after another few silent moments.

"What, fangirling over us already?" Coco laughed.

"No, that's not it. I'm grateful of course, but this is for my weapon, you know. It can create copies of the weapons I've photographed. They only last a short while though." she explained.

"We would be happy to oblige. I'm Yatsuhashi, by the way, but you can just call me Yatsu." the giant said.

"Fox." his friend murmured, nodding his agreement to her request.

"Oh, I am Velvet." the faunus replied and turned to Coco.

"But I am not prepared for a photo-shooting." the fashionable girl teased, "but then again I'm always stylish." She laughed and positioned herself between Yatsu and Fox.

A flash of light and a shower of thanks later they were walking to where they thought the temple was located. Before long, they reached the end of the forest and had a clear view at their target.

"Well...this is bad." Coco declared.

The temple, it seemed, was overrun with Grimm, even a King Taijitu.

"You said you can copy our weapons?" Coco asked.

"Yes?"

"And those copies don't last long?"

"Yes?"

"Then keep back, we need you later. Yatsu, focus on the bigger ones. Fox, watch our backs...or whatever you do, as you can't..." she trailed off. "Well...um...never mind, let's do this."

She unfolded her minigun and started mowing down the oncoming beasts. The giant warrior beside her rushed forward, slicing apart Beowolves and Ursai as he went. Fox kept running back and forth, killing anything that came too close to the girls.

The Grimm fell to the dozens to Coco's gun. Soon enough, the King Taijitu joined the fight.

"Velvet, your turn. The rest of you, distract the second head." she yelled.

"Are you...are you serious? My turn?" the faunus asked, excitement lighting up her eyes.

"Even a bunny can bite and the way I see it you quite pack a punch." Coco smiled at her.

With barely concealed glee, Velvet stepped forward, a copy of Coco's minigun materializing in her hands. She also mimicked her stance and pelted the other head of the giant snake with a rain of bullets. Then she ran forwards, now with armblades at her sides, slashing at the monster's eyes. She finished this head with a powerful double-punch against the side of its head, practically bashing it in.

Quickly dodging out of the way, she avoided being crushed by the second head, which she separated from its body in the blink of an eye with the copy of Yatsu's giant sword.

"Nice moves, bunny." Coco called. The faunus seemed a bit shocked at the nickname, but a clap on the back reassured her and she managed a small smile.

"Now, what do we have here?" Coco wondered, striding towards the pedestals in the temple.

"You got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed, "Coffee mugs? Seriously?"

"Looks like it." Yatsu murmured. They both grabbed a white cup and headed back to their respective partners.

"Let's get back. We still have a certain matter to discuss with Ozpin."

* * *

"Coco Adel, Yatsuhashi Daichi, Velvet Scarlatina, Fox Alistair. You retrieved the white coffee mugs. Your team will be known as Team CVFY, lead by….Coco Adel!" Professor Ozpin announced, as cheers erupted around them.

"Please follow me." he whispered to them, so only they could hear him.

He lead them to a nearby classroom. "I guess you are all aware of why I brought you here." he stated, matter-of-factly.

"You want to talk about the brawl in the forest." Coco sighed.

"Yes. I would like to indeed. I am particularly interested in Miss Scarlatina's version of the story."

"M-my version, sir? Why?" the nervous girl asked.

"Because you were in a highly emotional state most of the time. The way you have perceived the incident may differ greatly from the others and the cameras show only so much." the headmaster answered.

Coco placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder and nodded reassuringly.

"Well..." she started, "Everything seemed fine at first. The landing went smoothly, I encountered no Grimm and when I saw the boys I was happy to have found a partner. Only, they had already partnered up and obviously didn't like me being a faunus. They pushed me around and pulled my ears, laughing all the while. Then Coco appeared and stared them down. She looked me directly in the eyes and officially became my partner. Shortly after, Yatsu and Fox arrived as well. The bullies started to panic and all the negativity in the air drew the Grimm to the place. While the others fought off the beasts, I was being dragged away by the bullies. They started hitting and kicking me now, pulling my ears even harder, yelling at me. I-it was dreadful"

She had to stop to refocus, which Coco used as an excuse to put an arm around her shoulder.

Velvet sighed. "All I wanted was for them to stop and leave me alone. But they didn't for a long time. Then suddenly they did. I wasn't aware of what was happening around me, I practically shut down, wanted to be left alone by the world. Then I thought they would start again, until someone pulled me up and hugged me. It felt so wonderful, this simple gesture of love and care. Once I had calmed down, Coco called you. That's all there is to tell." she finished.

"Thank you, Miss Scarlatina. You had to suffer so much on your second day here, I hope your future time will be all the better. Now, I bet you all were wondering whether I would kick you out of Beacon for this...how did you call it, Coco?...ah yes, brawl. Well, quite on the contrary. I believe you to be one of the best teams we have gained this year." he smiled at their surprised expressions. "Not only did you fight bravely against a vast number of Grimm, but you also gave those bullies a chance to...surrender peacefully. You didn't hesitate to rush to your friends aid, when they did not. Calling me was a proof of your honour and honesty. But most importantly, you acted as a team from the very beginning, never questioning each others actions." Velvet gave Coco a quick look, knowing that this was not entirely true.

"What about the bullies? Why didn't you kick those out?" Fox wanted to know.

"I believe they pose a much smaller threat here under my watch than out in the world. Besides, kicking them out because of a faunus's team probably wouldn't change their minds about non-humans in a positive way." the professor answered. He waited for more questions and when none came, he raised his voice again.

"Thank you all for your time, especially you, Miss Scarlatina. You may go now."

Halfway through the door, Coco turned back around.

"Professor, I was wondering." she said.

"What about, Miss Adel?" he asked.

"Why coffee mugs?" she demanded.

He chuckled. "I was hoping someone would ask. You see, it's the small and simple things, which help us most, both in everyday business as well as in times of hardship. If we have to live without those things, what kind of life would we have? I chose coffee mugs for the revitalizing properties of the drink. I mostly recognized this all yesterday morning, when I couldn't find my own cup." he said with a smile, "And in hindsight it's an even better choice.

It fits your team."

* * *

 **AN:** I just wanted to say that I created this in less than a day, from getting the idea to finishing this story. I'm not sure whether I'll write more to this, but I'd like Feedback anyways.


	2. The Mission

**AN:** This is my take on the mission that went wrong during Volume 2. And yes, I know Velvet said that nothing went wrong, only that here were so many of them, but I still think it fits here. She simply didn't want Team RWBY to worry too much without lying straight to their faces. At least that's my Explanation in combination with this story.

* * *

It all had started so well.

Sure, there had been opposition along the way, but it was neither too much nor too few. They had had no problems dispatching the Grimm but also had enough on their hands not to wonder why it was so easy.

All and all, they had made good progress and had reached their target well in time.

That's when things started to go to hell…

–

"We got the cargo and are ready for pick-up. ETA?" Coco notified the pilot assigned to them.

"Negative on that. There's a swarm of Nevermore around. They don't stray far enough for me to get in safely." came the response.

"Wait, did you say a swarm?" Coco asked, "How many are there?"

"I saw at least a dozen of the beasts." the pilot answered.

"A dozen?! Are you serious? Any ideas on what draws them here? I mean, we're not exactly an epicentre of negativity here. Or are you telling me they realized they need more of a punch to take us down?" the shocked teamleader wondered.

"I have no clue. All I know is that I can't pick you guys up as long as the air is in their claws. You'll either have to get out on foot or take down those Nevermores."

"Oh great. I'll get back to you once we've decided." she said before ending the call.

"What do you guys think? One long haul home or one of the hardest battle we've faced so far." Coco turned to her teammates.

"I'm not sure we could deal with a dozen Nevermores. Walking sounds safer, doesn't it?" Velvet said.

"Depends." Yatsu raised his voice, "We'd have to carry this stuff. It will tire us out pretty fast. Besides, there's no guarantee we're safe from from the beasts this way either."

"If we want to take out the Nevermores, we'll have to relocate, which means we'd have to secure this cargo all over once again. I expect us to be exhausted after such a fight." Fox added.

Coco sighed. "Great. Give a minute to think."

She walked towards the entry of the warehouse they had found the lost shipment in. It wasn't even anything useful in the field, raw materials mostly. No dust though, sadly. Standing in the doorway, she gazed upon the sunset, pondering their options.

This was one of the times her badge as a leader turned into a massive burden. Both decisions had the potential to turn out disastrous, not only for the mission, but for her team.

Were they really up for such a massive battle? The rocketing dust prices had made it infeasible to use enhanced ammunition as much as she used to, so she couldn't simply swat the oversized birds out of the sky with her minigun. If only she'd packed at least one belt of dust-enhanced bullets. She made a mental note never to make this mistake again.

But as Yatsu said, carrying the cargo would leave them tired before long. They would have to slow down immensely compared to getting here, which would leave them in harm's way long enough to get the Nevermores' attention anyway. Same for Fox's comment. He was right, they would have to re-secure the shipment again, which may prove hard after such a fight.

Another possibility crossed her mind. She pulled out her scroll again and contacted the pilot.

"CFVY here again. Tell me, how much of a distance would we have to put behind us from here so you could pick us up if we don't take out the Nevermores?"

"As they seem to focus on the northern sector, I'd recommend going into the south-western direction. There's a peak from which I can easily pick you up. With carrying the cargo, I'd guess it would take you about a day to reach it." the pilot offered.

"A day? Damn. Still, sounds like our best option. We'll try it. Be ready." Coco answered.

"I'll be. Good luck, CFVY."

Walking back to her team, she called: "Pack up, guys. We'll take the middle road, we'll carry this stuff far enough to get picked up. The pilot thinks he can gather us up on a peak a days worth away south-west of here."

"What about the Nevermores?" Velvet asked.

"They seem to keep to the north." Coco said, "We'll just have to try our luck. But it still seems less of a stretch than our alternatives."

It took them a few minutes to pack the cargo and distribute it. Velvet had the smallest bag to carry, while Yatsu had the heaviest. He even offered to carry even more, but Coco was against it.

"No, I don't want you to collapse on the way. Who else would swing that giant blade then, huh? The part with the collapsing applies to all of you, by the way. We'll take it slow. Signal for breaks when necessary. That being said, I still hope we don't take much longer than that one day the pilot calculated. So, try to lay low and don't go picking fights with the Grimm, however much you're used to that by now."

"Practise what you preach." Fox sniggered, only to receive one of the glares over the rim of her glasses Coco was so infamous for. She couldn't keep a smile from appearing on her face though, as she turned away. He wasn't exactly wrong.

–

Even then, things had went relatively smoothly. They had managed to avoid most encounters and quickly finished those they couldn't. For the night, they made camp in one of the last houses of the place, before they would enter the rocky wasteland where the peak was located. Taking turns on the watch, each of them managed to regain some of their strength before the morning.

That's when fate decided to take a turn for the worse again…

–

Their destination in sight, the spirit of Team CFVY seemed to lift a bit, but it was dampened quickly as it started to rain. Pouring, actually. They may be close to their goal but now their journey was immensely more arduous. Soaked to the bones, freezing, and slipping every few feet. It would have been bad enough without a heavy load to carry. Their mood had been so good this morning, it was plummeting deeper than ever now.

This, combined with the decreased visibility and constant splashing and the howling wind, made it practically impossible to even see the Grimm before it was too late. It all added up, resulting in only more monsters being drawn towards them.

Still, they managed to reach the foot of the mountain around midday. For some reason, this seemed to fuel the Grimm even more. Before long, there was a constant stream of Creeps and Beowolfs.

Team CFVY had long switched to rotating their advance up the mountain. Two would hold the Grimm back, while the others progressed to a new defensive location, from which they would cover the first pair.

Right now, Coco placed her minigun on a rock and aimed down the mountainside, while next to her Fox went into a fighting stance. Pulling the trigger, she yelled down to Velvet and Yatsu: "Move! We got you!"

Quickly dispatching their current foes, they turned around and moved up the path, slowed down by the weight of their bags.

"This god-damned shipment will be the end of us." Coco cursed, gritting her teeth. Nevertheless, she continued to mow down any Grimm foolish enough to try and pursue her teammates. Soon enough, Velvet and Yatsu passed them by to set up a new line of defence further up.

As she had to reload, the monsters rushed up, exploiting the break in fire. They had made the bargain without Fox though, who sliced through them mercilessly, focusing less on form and special moves than usual, simply cutting them apart.

"Get back!" Coco called, as she sent another hail of bullets down the path, barely missing her comrade.

To their dismay, it started to rain even more, if that was even possible. Also, there were more creatures to be seen now as well. Boarbatusks and Ursai, to be specific. Coco even thought she caught a glimpse of an Alpha Beowolf, but before she could make sure the mountainside practically exploded.

Glancing back, she saw that her teammates had reached a new position and Velvet had just used some of her dust to cause the explosion.

Instead of turning around immediately, Coco first pulled Fox back and pushed him up the path, all the while keeping hold of her minigun with a single hand – good thing she had placed it on a rock before – and pulling the trigger through. "Go!" she practically screamed at him.

Pausing only to fold her now empty minigun, she started to follow him. Somehow, he had already reached Velvet and Yatsu, now almost at the top. Pulling out her scroll as she ran, she called the pilot, not caring for the interference the storm was causing.

"CFVY here. We need extraction immediately! You'll better be coming in hot!" she roared.

She didn't get an answer, only static, but she hoped the pilot would get the point either way.

Well, if he didn't, this would be the end of Team CFVY.

Before she could reach her friends though, the storm got even stronger than ever before and lightning flashed every few seconds. One seemed to hit the mountainside beneath her and before Coco could react, the path collapsed, sending her tumbling down the slope.

She was faintly aware of someone yelling her name before she landed – more like crashed – down and hit her head on a rock, her vision turning black.

–

At least she wasn't unconscious for long. Groaning, she sat up, taking in her environment. There was a forest on this side of the mountain. Her weapon and her scroll both lay a few feet from her and seemed to have survived the fall.

Her glasses had not.

And the bag with the cargo was nowhere to be seen.

Picking up her beret, which must have slipped off her head when she hit the stone, she stumbled over to her weapon. Making sure, it was still folding and unfolding properly, she checked her scroll.

Naturally, Coco's aura had been depleted completely. With a sigh of relief, she saw that her teammates were still okay, all with more than 50% aura left.

"Velvet? Yatsu? Fox? Can you hear me?" she tried.

It took a few moments before she got an answer, but just as before it was only static.

"Damn this storm!" she cursed under her breath.

 _"I have to get out of here somehow...hmm. The mountainside is too steep to climb, even without my bag. Trying to fight my way up is a no go either, weakened as I am and without support."_

Pulling up a map on her scroll, she found a hill which seemed to be free of trees. _"If I can make it there, the Bullhead might be able to pick me up."_

Taking another look around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything and to maybe glimpse the lost bag, her eyes fell on her broken glasses.

Not exactly sure why, she picked the broken and bent remains up and put them into a pouch at her side.

Without further delay, she set out into the woods, keeping her senses sharp, both to keep her defence up and in hopes of hearing the roar of engines signalling the arrival of the Bullhead.

The dark was pressing in around her – it had to be pretty late by now – and this was noticeable in her reactions.

She kept glancing over her shoulder, always feeling watched. She'd jump at the slightest noise, the roaring of thunder, the flash of lighting, a breaking twig beneath her boot. Every gust of wind had her unfolding her minigun, peering into the shadows between the trees, trying to locate the source of the ruffling leaves.

Before long, she had missed the hill and was wandering farther and farther into the forest…

–

"We have to find her!" Fox yelled at the pilot. They were practically staring each other into the ground. At the table, Yatsu tried to comfort a crying Velvet.

"And how am I supposed to do that? The storm is too strong for me to go blindly flying around." the pilot snapped back, not exactly in a good mood himself. He had tried contacting Team CFVY all day to warn them about the storm, but couldn't get a signal through. When he got Coco's call however, he knew what was happening and immediately started in the direction of the extraction point, fighting a fight of his own all the time, trying to keep control of his vehicle.

Right now, they were sitting in a small outpost, the team refusing to return to Beacon without their leader. They had reached it a few days ago.

"I don't know! But we can't simply leave her behind. And before you repeat yourself once again, I refuse to believe she's dead." Fox was almost roaring by now.

"Just look at your scroll! You said her aura was down completely after the fall. Now we can't even get a status on her!" the pilot responded, almost as loud as Fox himself.

"So what? The storm and the distance to the CCT are to fault for that, it doesn't mean she's gone!"

The pilot had only been able to keep the team from going out there on their own by putting a code on the Bullhead's doors.

"Believe what you will. There's no way I'll let you got out there. I say, we fly back to Beacon and let a group of trained huntsmen conduct a search." the pilot said, trying to calm down.

Fox slammed his fist down on the table, causing Velvet to shriek. "We don't have time for that! Every minute we waste here or on the way to Beacon, Coco's out there in mortal danger! I swear, if you don't help, I'll go on foot."

The pilot sighed. "Okay, okay. But we'll wait until tomorrow. I will not fly in this storm."

Shaking his head, Fox left the room, muttering under his breath.

The rest of the day was not much better. Fox was explosive whenever someone tried to talk to him, Velvet barely stopped crying, Yatsu didn't say a word and the pilot drowned one cup of coffee after the other.

He would have preferred alcohol.

No matter what he told Fox, this whole situation weighed heavily on his shoulders as well. It was very much possible his stubbornness had resulted in the death of a student. He tried telling himself as much as he would tell Fox that there's nothing they could do, at least in this weather.

It proved to be long night…

–

Coco was slowly losing her mind.

Every shadow and every sound seemed to be hiding an enemy. She had long lost every sense of direction, her scroll had died on her the day before yesterday and it still would not stop raining.

There also was concern for her teammates. Had they made it out of there? Had the Bullhead arrived on time? Another painful thought crept into her mind. What if they had died there? Because of her? Would all of this have happened if she'd chosen to attack the Nevermores or take the route to Beacon? Would she be sitting in the cafeteria right now, a steaming mug of coffee in her hands, laughing with her friends?

Deep in her thoughts, she barely noticed she'd reached the end of the forest. Before her lay wide, rolling grasslands, almost turned into a swamp by the heavy rain. Glad to be out in the open, she set out.

It didn't take long for her to regret this decision somewhat.

The ground here was much more treacherous than in the forest, where the trees had shielded much of the rainfall. Every few steps, she would slide and stumble. She was already covered in mud from head to toe.

Still, Coco was too stubborn to turn around. Besides, where would she go? Back into the forest with no hopes of getting found? Where Grimm might hide behind every bush and tree? Even if she made it through the forest, there was no telling where she would end up. If luck was on her side, she might find the city again – but the last few days had taught her that luck was never on his side.

At least the rain seemed to lessen gradually.

After a few hours of stumbling around, it had stopped completely, sunlight finally peering through the thick clouds again. This somewhat lifted her hopes.

As she climbed the top of a hill, she turned around, only to realize she had lost sight of the forest. Thus, she had lost her last point of orientation. There was not enough light yet to pinpoint the location of the sun and even then, she had no idea which time it was. So she had to wait for it to become night before she could hope to get any semblance of orientation again.

Deciding it was to better to move on than sit here out in the open, she continued onwards only to slip again and slide down the side of hill.

Wiping the mud from her face, she tried to stand up.

'Hhhhssssss'

Coco froze.

She could hear something moving, patches of mud sliding and falling on the ground with a splatter.

Slowly turning around, she found herself facing a Deathstalker, completely covered in mud and grass.

It must have been lying dormant here and she had just woken it up.

She scrambled to her feet, avoiding the monster's stinger by sheer luck as she stumbled again.

Coco tried to parry an attack of it's pincers, which sent her flying, sliding through the mud again.

At least this gave her some time, considering the Deathstalkers had problems of its own navigating the slick landscape.

Grabbing her chance, she unfolded her gun, sending a flurry of bullets its way, sliding backwards through the mud but managing to stay upright.

Unfortunately, her bullets didn't seem to hurt the beast, which seemed to gain some sort of control, moving towards her steadily. Evading a second attack from its stinger by diving sidewards, Coco was kicked through the air by a follow-up with its pincers. Again, she tried shooting it, this time aiming at its eyes, hoping to blind it. It shielded itself with its claws and to Coco's dismay her gun died down, her final magazine spent. Folding it into its handbag-form, she sidestepped another stab with its stinger.

Grabbing it, she got herself out of reach of the beast's pincers and tried knocking the stinger loose while also keeping a grip on the tail. But the immense strength of the Deathstalker's muscles combined with its muddy skin made it impossible for her to hold on long. Once again, she found herself flying through the air and once again she hit her head on a rock, her eyes filling with tears from the pain. Trying to regain her focus, she vaguely saw the Grimm looming over her.

She mentally prepared to meet her end. She closed her eyes, somehow calmer now than ever.

After all, this was how she had wanted to go out. In battle. Not in bed due to age or sickness. No, because she had found a foe stronger than herself by skill or circumstances. Breathing deeply, she steeled her confidence, intent on not giving her enemy the pleasure of making her cry or beg.

But the blow never came.

 _"Why is this taking so long?"_ Coco thought, slightly annoyed, _"Does it have to play with me?"_

Deciding she had enough, she opened her eyes.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

And it sent her heart plummeting.

The Deathstalker was not alone any more. There also were a Nevermore and another Deathstalker looming over her. It seemed the arrival of the other two creatures had distracted the first Grimm long enough not to kill her….yet.

"Shit." All the confidence she had gathered a few moments ago vanished in an instant. She found herself crawling backwards, trying to get away from the monsters. She didn't stand the slightest chance.

Then she heard another hissing sound somewhere behind her. Shaking all over, she looked over her shoulder but couldn't find the source for the noise.

It didn't stop either. Instead it only grew louder.

At least it also seemed to confuse the beasts. They tried locating it as well, the Nevermore even taking flight.

By now the hissing had risen to a roar.

"What the-" Coco started, but could only gasp as the Nevermore was torn apart.

By a blade.

A huge blade.

A familiar, huge blade.

Looking up, she saw Fox and Velvet standing in the open door of the Bullhead, the latter already throwing dust-vials at one of the Deathstalkers. Fox followed Yatsu's example and dropped out of the airship, timing his jump perfectly, so he could grab the stinger of the other beast – the one Coco herself had tried loosening before. This helped Fox, as he cut it off with only two slashes with his right blade – he used the left one to keep hold. In the meantime, Yatsu managed, with Velvet's support of course, to crack the armour of the second Deathstalker, finishing it off with another heavy blow before turning to the other one.

Struggling to her feet, Coco stumbled forwards toward the fighting. She didn't know why exactly. Probably because she couldn't stand the idea of standing around while her friends fought for their lives.

Enraged by the loss of its most deadly weapon, the remaining beast put up one hell of a fight, managing to fling Fox away, knocking down Yatsu in the process. It simply ignored all of Velvet's attacks, who was on the brink of using her own weapon. But she didn't want to waste her arsenal on a single Deathstalker. So, she had to watch as it slowly crawled towards Yatsu, who seemed to have increased difficulties getting up due to his size and weight.

Fox tried to distract it, but was knocked aside by a pincer. The monster was now standing right in front of Yatsu, raising it's claws for the blow.

With a roar of fury, Coco mustered all her strength, rushed forwards and rammed to cut-off stinger into the largest of the eyes on her side of its head.

Using this chance, she pulled Yatsu up, who took the heaviest of swings and nailed the embedded stinger deep into the creatures head, finishing it.

Breathing hard, all the exhaustion of the past few days finally caught up to Coco and she collapsed right there. The last thing she knew was that strong arms carried her to the Bullhead before darkness engulfed her.

–

They had returned to the outpost. Coco had a blanket draped around her shoulders and the mug of coffee she had missed so much in front of her.

"How did you find me?" she asked, "I've been wandering around for days. I must have been miles from that mountain."

"Yeah, we thought so." Fox answered, "We were flying all around the forest, hoping you had made it out of there. Then we saw that Nevermore flying in a straight line, we guessed it would lead us to you. After all, if it had only been patrolling its domain, it would have circled around."

"Must have been quite a shock to see me lying in the mud, surrounded by three giant Grimm..." Coco murmured.

"This might sound strange, but it actually was a relief." Yatsu said, "Now we knew you were still alive and we were fast enough to rescue you."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Coco raised her voice again.

"Why aren't we at Beacon? Don't tell me we still have to gather those damned supplies."

"No, we don't." Velvet assured her, "But of course we didn't take them with us on our search for you. The pilot is loading them unto the Bullhead right now. Fox still is angry at him for not searching for you sooner, but the guy refused to fly in the storm again. He barely got the three of us off that mountain alive."

"And it was the right decision." the pilot said, entering the room. "We wouldn't have been able to find you in the forest." He shot an angry look at Fox, who glared back.

"We leave in the hour. I don't know about you guys, but I have enough of this place."

As soon as Coco finished her coffee, the team grabbed their few belongings not already on the Bullhead and left the outpost.

Settling down on her seat, Coco closed her eyes and sighed.

"We're never retrieving lost shipments again." was the last thing she said, before falling asleep.

* * *

 **AN:** I'm putting this part at the end, as it contains spoilers to this very story. As the last one, it was made in less than a day and I mostly went with the flow. Actually, only the part until the collapsing mountainside had been in my head beforehand.  
That being said, I still hope for Feedback of any Kind.


	3. Author's Message

Looking at this story after over a year, I wanted to say a few things. This is not a new chapter, if I got your hopes up.

First of all, thank you to those few people who were nice nough to leave a review, those really made my day and made me feel all fuzzy inside :D

In any case, I have not stopped writing during this one year and I'm pretty sure I have improved.

But I fear I will have to disappoint you, for multiple reasons. One, since Vol. 4 ended, I haven't watched the tiniest bit of RWBY and am somewhat "out of shape" in that regard, so to speak. Two, I don't have any ideas for a new story, apart from what Team CFVY would do after the Fall of Beacon - which in itself says nothing at all. Three, I have kinda moved from Fanfictions to Original Creations, although my main problem with those is, let's say I start a fantasy setting: after three chapters, I want to do something cyberpunk, and so on. Anyways, this results in me having multiple projects wich I work on sporadically, BUT I do work on them. So, maybe I won't write more Team CFVY stories (I might, though, who knows), but it's possible you'll see something original from me somewhere else.


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